Midori CL Mechanical Pencil Review

The Midori CL pencil is a plastic bodied mechanical pencil that costs about £2.50 in the UK. It’s available in 0.3mm and 0.5mm versions and in blue, white and pink.

It’s simply styled, with minimal branding. It looks quite 60s to me. I don’t like it as much in person as I thought I would when I looked at the pictures before buying but that’s down to my taste. You may love it, and I won’t judge you.

However, whether you like how it looks or not, it isn’t actually a very good pencil.

The metal tip is retractable and that’s great. However because when you push the button it also has to push out the tip, the lead isn’t out enough to easily use. Unfortunately a second press pushes the lead out so far it’s prone to breaking. It’s not been thought through.

The clip, likewise, shows a lack of sensible thinking. It’s part of the push button so when you try to clip it onto something either you accidentally deploy the lead or you push the button off the barrel a little.

Both these issues can be avoided if you exercise care but why should you need to.

There isn’t an eraser but that’s okay because if there had been one I expect it would have been awful.

This is a pencil that was designed for its looks by someone who never actually tried to use it.